Power, something intanglible but worth far more than gold or any precious gems. If someone has power we precieve that they have capital and influence. The actual definition of power is the possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done. WIth power there comes action then one reaps the benefits of their power. Power is the focal point of Peter’s speech at Pentecost in Acts 2. The day of Pentecost is actually a Jewish festival marking the end of the wheat harvest. Thus Peter being of Jewish decent before his walk with Christ Peter partakes in this Jewish festival in the upper room of a house with a multitude of people. It is at this time that the people encounter the Holy Spirit and start to speak in tongues. It’s funny that the people who did not receive the Spiritual gift of speaking in tongues mocked the people for being “drunk” assuming they had hit the wine a little to hard during their festivities, but we all know that is not true because as stated in Acts 2:8-11 “
8“And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
9“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11Cretans and Arabs–we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” that all these people hear each other proclaiming what God has done in their own native languages. Then Peter gets before the crowd and explains what is happening and refers to two prophecies within the Hebrew Bible. The first is the prophecy of Joel which explains that God will pour His Spirit upon his people and they will perform signs, miracles, and wonders. And the second is David’s prophecy which states that he is God’s right hand and he won’t be shaken. Yahweh declared that David’s descendants would always sit upon the throne of Jerusalem as long as there is a kingdom, and Peter uses this to link to the message of Jesus. He recounts that Jesus came and performed signs miracles and wonders and was put to death by the mob, and told them all to repent and to be baptized. Peter uses the word dunamis (dynamite/power) to explain the power of Jesus, and he tells the crowd to go forth and be baptized just like Jesus. Three main things to note are that Jesus was A) Baptized B) The Holy Spirit descended upon him and C) He performed signs, miracles, and wonders. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized; so why did he do it? He was baptized to set an example for us. Jesus came with power and He has called us to go forth with that same power “dunamis” and perform signs, miracles, and wonders to expand the kingdom. Without action this power can not be released, but just because we haven’t used it does not mean we do not have the same power of Jesus. We are seated with Him at the right hand of God and He prophesied that we would do many more great things than He did in His life time. The only thing that holds us back is the eighteen inches between our hearts and our brains.
